2004 Report to the Community

Dear Friend,

Harborview Medical Center remains a leader in the delivery of quality care to patients from all walks of life. As the only Level I adult and pediatric trauma and burn center for a four-state region (Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho), patients can count on medical expertise, immediate care and access to state-of-the-art resources 24 hours a day, seven days a week, regardless of their ability to pay.

As an integral part of UW Medicine, Harborview is a major academic medical center that focuses its efforts on teaching, research and clinical care. The staff embrace a culture and commitment to patient safety and strive to provide excellence in clinical care and patient outcomes.

As you read our 2004 Report to the Community, you can’t help but understand the extent of Harborview’s commitment to its mission.

In fiscal year 2003 (July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003), we provided more than $55 million of charity care - approximately 30 percent of all charity care in the state. For fiscal year 2004, our charity care rose dramatically to approximately $93 million.

We continue to work collaboratively with other health-care organizations and providers in the region to address access issues for underserved populations. Maintaining access for safety net populations requires participation and commitment from the entire health-care community.

Centers of Emphasis:
Patient Stories

To continue to serve our patients and maintain financial viability, Harborview maintains a diligent ongoing process improvement program aimed at decreasing costs and improving both the quality of patient care and the medical center’s operational effectiveness. In fiscal year 2004, staff, physicians and management team members successfully implemented 106 different process improvement initiatives.

These initiatives resulted in a savings of more than $26 million, representing cost avoidance, appropriate revenue capture, waste reduction and other efficiencies. You can read about some of our successes in the Process Improvement section of this report.

Other examples of our accomplishments are noted below. We...

• Designed, constructed and opened our new 401 Broadway Patricia Steel Building, housing clinical and administrative departments including 300 new underground parking spaces.
• Achieved our Level I Adult & Pediatric Trauma Center and Trauma Rehabilitation Center three-year certification from the Washington State Department of Health.
• Achieved our Regional Burn Center three-year re-verification from the American Burn Association/American College of Surgeons.
• Achieved accreditation for stroke care from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, JCAHO.
• Completed more than 25 facility upgrades and capital improvement projects.
• Completed the design development and schematic design process for our Harborview Bond Project, which will ultimately add 50 patient beds, eight operating rooms as well as seismic upgrades to existing facilities.
• Opened the new UW Medicine/Puget Sound Sports and Spine Physicians Spine Center.
• Continued deployment of several major information systems initiatives.
• Maintained a positive operating margin of $2.4 million, less than 1 percent of revenues, while serving record numbers of uninsured and underinsured patients from our region.

The lives of thousands of people have been changed for the better by the exceptional treatment they’ve received at Harborview. We owe this to the dedication and commitment of our staff, who support and/or provide skilled, compassionate care to our patients. We invite you to read about the patients whose stories have been included in this report.

Our thanks and appreciation to you as a member of the community and to our staff for the continued support and dedication to our mission. Working together, we can achieve our goals and provide state-of-the-art excellence in clinical care, teaching and research. Together, we can ensure that Harborview remains a regional treasure for our community.

Sincerely,

David E. Jaffe Executive Director	Johnese Spisso Chief Operating Officer	Dr. Scott Barnhart Medical Director